Nancy scored in the dying minutes to keep the French league title race alive heading into the three-week winter break with a thrilling 1-1 draw against leaders Lyon on Saturday.
The draw keeps the status quo at the top of the table with Pablo Correa's surprise package this season just four points off Alain Perrin's six-time champions at the half-way stage.
Former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Milan Baros looked to have wrapped up the tie for Lyon with just ten minutes left, and against the run of play, when the Nancy defense were caught by a counter attack.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Baros darted in from the right to meet a through ball and the Czech found himself alone in front of keeper Gennaro Bracigliano.
After taking the ball further into the box Baros calmly slotted home past the advancing Bracigliano to silence the Marcel-Picot stadium.
However, the chilly evening soon heated up when Nancy levelled the match seven minutes later after a poorly cleared corner landed squarely on the boot Chris Malonga.
Malonga's powerful volley was deflected by Lyon defender Francois Clerc, wrong-footing reserve goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre for the equalizer and a share of the spoils.
"I am happy to have won a point, but especially disappointed with the result," Nancy coach Correa said. "If there is to be one happy team out there, it's Lyon. We dominated."
Neither team had been firing on all cylinders heading into the encounter and the result handed Nancy their fourth consecutive stalemate while Lyon were left without a win in their last three matches.
"I knew we would have trouble getting into this game and a point was the minimum objective," Lyon boss Perrin said.
"Nancy did not deserve to lose" the match Perrin said, adding that his side "were not in control" during the game that was played in freezing temperatures.
That was a point of view shared by Lyon goalkeeper Vercoutre, who is standing in for injured No. 1 shotstopper Gregory Coupet.
"We had trouble out there, but we take a point away with us, something few clubs will do [this season]," Coupet said.
Later, in-form Caen notched up their fifth straight win with a 2-0 victory over Strasbourg.
The result moved Caen into fourth place, two points behind Bordeaux, who needed a last-gasp goal to defeat struggling Sochaux 1-0.
Marseille earned a much-needed three points by beating Le Mans 1-0 to move them up three spots to 11th.
Auxerre distanced themselves from the danger zone with a 1-0 win over Monaco, while Nice continued to trouble the top clubs with a 1-0 win over Valenciennes.
Yesterday's northern French derby between Lens and Lille was postponed because of a frozen pitch.
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